


Before Easter vacation

by TFALokiwriter



Category: Lost in Space (Cartoon 1973)
Genre: Fear, Gen, Heartbreaking, Heartwarming, Penny Robinson Has a Nightmare, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Worry, aged up Penny Robinson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24652954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFALokiwriter/pseuds/TFALokiwriter
Summary: Before Link Robinson went aboard the Jupiter 2 space shuttle, he went to his parents.





	Before Easter vacation

"Mom, dad, I got the message from Craig this afternoon."

The announcement came in the middle of dinner.

"What was the answer?" Mark, Link's father, asked.

"Craig will have his first flight when Easter vacation starts with two passengers already booked the flight to Saturn." Link said.

"That sounds nice." Penny said.

"Said he could take another passenger." Link added.

"What is the name of the shuttle?" Mark asked.

"The Jupiter 2." Link said as Penny abruptly dropped her silverware on to the plate then stared at the boy.

The hair all over her body had raised at the mention at the Jupiter 2. 

"You won't be on that flight." Penny said.

Penny was a woman in her fifties with the experience with the Jupiter 2 still lingering in on as memories. It was a flight had left a mark on her from the rounded saucer that was supposed to become a planet bound ship for the rest of its existence but instead became a wandering ship in the dark ferrying a family through the darkness searching for home.

It was a name that was forever tied to the unknown, to fear and being lost. Not certainty included with a mapped out flight plan. Mark's face fell as he shifted his gaze toward Link. It felt as though it had been yesterday that she had him as a forty-two year old woman with medical treatment making it possible to have him. He was so young, optimistic, and innocent with his whole life ahead of him---the name Jupiter 2 was forever associated to taking away pleasant years.

"Mom, pleaaaaaase?" Link begged.

"No." Penny shook her head with a small smile.

"It's just a week long vacation!" Link protested.

"Easter Vacation is spent on Earth." Penny said.

Link frowned, perplexed, but shocked.

"What about our visits to grandma and grandpa?" Link asked

"That is spent during the summer, Link." Penny replied.

"Do you trust your own son?" Link asked.

"Course, I do." Penny replied.

"Then trust him with me." Link said.

"Link, it's not about that." Mark spoke up.

"Then what is it about?" Link said.

"Eat your dinner." Penny requested.

"I am not eating until you spill the beans." Link said.

Mark snorted and Penny smiled back at Link.

"That's not something to discuss over the dinner table." Penny supplied.

Link shrugged and accepted the answer for the time being.

* * *

"Penelope, we have to tell him sometime." Mark said as he were preparing to retire to bed that night.

"He is too young to hear of those years." Penny said, frowning, but very unhappy on the issue. "He is just a kid."

"He wants to go to space with his old brother. His big brother's first flight!" Mark stretched his arms out in emphasis. "It's important to Link."

Mark shook his hand as he paced back and forth in front of Penny then turned toward her with a pause looking upon her, sympathetically.

"Link being on Earth is important to him, too." Penny said.

Mark lowered down to her level then clasped his hands around her hands.

"He doesn't understand your justified phobias like I do." Mark said, gently. "We have to tell him why you are the way that you are."

Penny closed her eyes, set on the edge of the bed with a sigh, looking aside clasping her hands together in her lap.

"I won't be with him. You won't be with him for this flight." Penny said. "None of us will be with him when he goes out there."

"We're always with him in his heart, my love." Mark said, softly.

"I had my family last time!" her voice started to fall apart as she exclaimed and he stood up to his feet. "We were prepared for that life style, _trained_ for it, anticipated of it---" she shook her clasped hand, distraught, but frightened of one potential future. "he isn't."

Mark sat down alongside Penny then took her hand.

"My love, things are different from then." Mark said.

"Maybe not so much." Penny said.

"Why say that?" Mark put a hand on her shoulder looking in on concern.

"We thought the ride was going to be slept through." Penny's voice was softer. "We thought the journey was going to be easy."

"Nothing is easy." Mark said then Penny turned her head toward him as she rubbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "If everything were easy, it wouldn't be challenging, we wouldn't have risks to tell about or laugh about at the end of the day making history. But, let him take risks. It is his decision. His life."

Penny sniffled.

"I am scared of losing Link forever." Penny admitted.

Mark wrapped a arm around her side then she fell against his shoulder.

"Me too, my love." Mark admitted then planted a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

It was the following afternoon where school ended for the day that they waited Link side by side in the living room. Link set down his backpack as the roomba went from corner to corner whirring as it soaked up the dirt underneath the frame. Penny looked back toward her partner then took his hand as he nodded. Link was set in a chair with his backpack beside his legs.

"You'll learn about this in history class one day, but we had a little scare along the way to Gamma." Penny was the first to begin.

"What kind of scare?" Link asked.

"My family was lost in space for a time." Penny sighed, lowering her head if only briefly, his shoulders lowering. "A very trying time."

Mark reached his hand out then took Penny's hand giving it a squeeze.

"Took us a lot of hoops just to get home." She raised her head up. "A lot of hope and a lot of chance. A lot of prayer through desperation, loneliness, isolation, stress, and tension."

She shifted her gaze toward Mark then let out a small smile at seeing him look proudly at her for being there.

"But, we made it. I took the first commercial flight to Earth when I was seventeen and didn't look back."

The look in his eyes were the kind of pride that she stayed down to Earth for even with her regret of leaving her family behind. She remembered their looks of understanding but pain at her decision, wishing her well, the most heart breaking moment of her life beside waking up and being at Gamma, even the tears, the promise to visit every holiday. Penny was thrown back in time looking back at a time that convinced her space was dangerous and she shouldn't grow old in the unknown without civilization. A time which taught her if her family got to Gamma was to get back to Earth.

"It took your mother's parents to bring her and her siblings back in one piece."

"Did you lose anyone?" Link asked.

"We had everyone that we need. Including Debbie." Penny smiled, widely, at the fond memory. "But, she died after I made it to Earth."

"You mean Debbie the Bloop?" Link asked

"Yes, her." Penny nodded.

"I recall learning about her in science class." Link said. "Why did she die?"

"There was a alien virus that she caught during the flight to Gamma." She was quiet for a long moment. "I never got to say a proper good-bye."

Penny recalled on the verge of tears. She shook her head, shaking off these feelings, as the memories of becoming familiar back to Earth was starting to resurface. The difficulty not over buying food, over buying kitchen supplies, bathroom supplies. Mark handed her a handkerchief then started to cry a little wiping the tears off.

"That Bloop was smart." Mark said with a snort. "So very smart. . ."

"When I was thirteen, I made a promise to myself not to have children. Not to be condemned being lost in space like we were." Penny said.

Penny became mellow once more as her shoulders fell looking back at the depressing moment in her life that stretched on for almost a dozen years in her mind. She wiped off newly born tears off as she began to tremble. The impact of a simple scare had continued to haunt his mother years after it had ended as pieces of what he knew about Penny came together regarding the food supplies being stocked up every so often every three to five months.

"Didn't feel real to me that I was back on Earth for the longest time." Penny finally continued. "When I felt ready, we had your brother."

Penny turned her attention off toward her son.

"Even with Gunter - our General Utilities Non-Theorizing Environmental Robot -- at our aid after doing his best to make sure the Jupiter 2 was close enough on course that we could find our way back, it was a. . ." She paused. "A nightmare that I wouldn't put your brother in."

Link's attention shifted toward his parents, looking back and forth, as it dawned on him.

"Is this why you take the flight that Uncle West-Robinson does on special occasions?" Link asked.

Penny withdrew her hand from Mark's hand then frowned as her attention turned back toward Link.

"There is nothing special about that." Penny protested as she handed the handkerchief back to Mark.

Mark smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder with care.

"Darling, he does that for you." Mark said. "He hardly does it for anyone else."

Penny's gaze lowered off Mark then on to her son.

"After we woke up, Gunter told us that we went off course because of a uncharted meteor storm. He didn't get to the bridge on time. It took us three years to get back. Three long frightening years fighting against the final frontier pioneering for those who could get lost. That's why most colony classes are outfitted with supplies to last them for the first three years when they send them out to colonize a planet and a pilot who is awake the entire ride."

"Well, Craig will be wide awake!" Link protested as he lifted a arm gesturing toward the empty seat across from him then smacked his hand against his chest. "So will I and the other passengers."

"Link, the other passengers aren't in the front of the console when the unexpected happens." Mark replied. "But, you will have to be calm in the face of uncertainty for the sake of the others."

"I can be calm!" Link insisted. "If we get a little off course, we will get back to the solar system with _little_ delay. Pleeeeeeaaase, pretty please!" 

Link clasped his hands together in his plea as his eyes sparkled, pouting, tilting his head.

"Can I go with my big brother to the Saturn Space Station for a week?" Link plead.

Penny's shoulders fell as she began to smile admiring her son's positive characteristics; her son was determined, he was persistent, he was so eager to spend time with his brother. The flights were routine with shuttles departing from Earth including from many other points that had been colonized in the solar system after having been fine tuned. They even happened every day unlike how it had only happened months or years apart before each flight. 

"Alright." Penny relented. "You can go."

Link charged into his parents arms crashing with their support between him.

"Thanks!" Link exclaimed. "You're the best!"

They returned the hug with smiles of their own exchanging a glance with the other.

"So are you." Mark replied.

* * *

Penny booked a seat for Link the following minutes after the group hug ended. The uniform synthesizer generated the boy's flight uniform a hour after dinner while Link went on to pack his room that consists of a week's worth of clothing, cheap airpods, dozens of books for the long flight, and a music box. These were so little articles of belongings compared to what Penny had taken; a music player, several of her favorite fantasy books, medical books regarding animal biology, ear buds---no, they were a direct mirror of what she had taken.

The uniform was layered in green just like his eyes incredibly lacking in a third theme similar to how the Jupiter 2 uniforms were set out. Staring at the uniform reminded the older woman of her brother's third year uniform. It had been so juvenile, retro, but looking forward layered in light purple, green, and yellow. Colors that she used to wince at as a outfit of her choice long after the return to Earth.

These were colors that Penny had once loved with her heart but green and yellow became associated to being castaways and it took time to love the colors. It was more of a relearning experience to discover the meaning behind the words; stay, home, alien, and people. It took time for her to lose the feeling that she would have to leave the planet in a month, in a day, in a week, if not longer. It became a background feeling that didn't nag her as it used to.

She was surrounded by reminders that she didn't have to search for home anymore, she was surrounded by the constellation, the one sun, the one moon, the clear blue skies with clouds (except for flying cars) and birds that were Earthly in nature including the squirrels, raccoons, and insects. It took Penny longer to become adjusted to seeing lady bugs, consider them pests once more instead of something that wasn't normal and frightening, seeing anything of Earth grounded her down.

She smoothed the uniform out with a iron then withdrew her hand as Link set his white boots and white belt into the pile.

"Pack your bathroom supplies, too!" Then Penny added. "AFTER your shower in the morning."

"Mom, I am only going to be there for a week!" Link exclaimed.

"Semper paratus." Penny said.

"A Robinson is always ready." Link sulked as he looked aside with a grimace and sulked. "There are so many steps."

"If I am going to let you go then you _will_ be prepared for if you fall through the solar domes to Ganymede and land in the most remote sections." Penny explained as her son listened then started to frown with how the last came out looking at her as if she had two heads.

"That's the moon of Jupiter, mom!" Link exclaimed as his head bobbed up. "That's further away from Saturn!"

"There may be problems." Penny warned. "Problems that may be worse than the ones in my childhood."

"Alright, if I take those, will you be happy?"

Penny slipped out a aged army swiss knife. 

"When I was fifteen, my father made this, my mother painted it, and it was gifted to me for my birthday." Penny handed it to Link. "It is yours, now."

Link admired the aged material then looked up toward her.

"Have you needed to use it often?" Link slipped it among the belongings that he were packing.

"All my life." Penny replied, fondly smiling then folded her arms with a laugh. "Mundane things; really."

"What kind of boring things?" Link asked.

"Boring typical matters, I cook the 20th century way not the 21st century." Then she smiled looking upon the boy. "And to answer your initial question, yes. I will be very happy."

"I am going to go hoverboarding with my friends," Link said. "They will laugh at this!"

Link bolted off from Penny as she watched him flee out of the house.

"Before you know it, he will be sixteen and he won't understand why he has to ask for permission from the parents to take his sweet heart out." Mark said.

Penny shifted toward Mark raising her brows.

"He will understand." Penny rationalized.

Mark approached Penny.

"Easier than understanding your phobias, it will always be a story to him compared to the normal way life goes."

Penny smiled with a chuckle as she put her hand on his that was set on her shoulder.

"He gets the gist of the story."

"What is it?" Mark asked. "Asides to semper paratus?"

Penny turned toward him then put her hands on his chest as she smiled.

"Have hope that you'll make it home." Penny said then hugged her partner who returned the hug in the middle of the living room. 

* * *

_Penny slept that night, dreaming of strange creatures that astound the minds of those who normally do not think of anything else other than the strangest of gold, money, horror, and action adventure related consumption. She walked down the hill in her dream spotting a familiar facility in the area. It brought a smile to her face so she approached it further with her hands in fists restraining the energy that was coursing through her veins. Penny felt like a little girl once more ready to face what the universe had to throw at her._

_She came to the entrance of Alpha Control then reached her hand out, grasped the handle, then turned the knob and yanked it forward._ _The door refuse to budge to her command as she tried to yank it forward. Penny became irritated after a few tries then stepped back once letting go of the handle. She looked around then spotted a passageway that was close to her which wrapped around the facility. It was almost comparable to a valley that was coated in grass, flowers, and small stones on the ledge that was alongside the walkway.  
_

_She ran around the facility navigating her way to the back seeking for the back of the building. Penny paused in her tracks as she was behind the fence and stared at what was ahead of her. Her skin paled, her heart raced, her skin started to sweat at what stood ahead of her. She saw the familiar small homely eighty-foot ship remained on the launch pad propped up by the red support beams, joined by the structure that guided the passengers inside, it's a strange dream._

_"I haven't been here before. "_

_Everything is off as is the landing pad.  
_

_"This isn't how the Jupiter 2 launched."_

_She looked around the environment is different with a bed of water across._

_"Beaches? Is this Cape Canaveral?" She was stunned. "The Jupiter 2 launched in a city in the United States Space Corps base."_

_She approached the fenced in wall and gripped her fingers along the smooth but cold wires. She spotted a large van coming toward the launch pad. Her attention shifted toward the lowered elevator that opened its doors. She turned her attention toward the red van shuttling the passengers toward the saucer. She watched in befuddlement as the craft approached the saucer for several minutes at a time slowly as her curiosity grew in levels._

_The vehicle came to a pause with dark tinted windows that blocked view. She watched as the passenger side door was opened as she anticipated John to come out first and help her mother down. Instead, it was Craig who came out of the vehicle then helped two passengers out of the vehicle then Link was next. She was frozen in fear watching this unfold before her eyes. Craig patted on Link's shoulder as they followed the others toward the elevator in a line carrying carrying their belongings by the handle._

_Penny opened her mouth then screamed, flinging her hands against the bars, shaking it._

_"Link! Don't go! Link! Link!"  
_

_She watched as they entered the elevator, turned around, then the doors closed before them._

_"Link, this is your mother!"  
_

_Penny screamed as she watched the elevator go up then pause at the upper deck._

_"Link, turn back! Please! Tt-t--tturn back! Turn back!"  
_

_The elevator doors opened then Craig was the first to exit with a smile._

_"CRAAAAIG! CRAAAAAAAAIG! CRAAAAAAAAIG!"_

_They went toward the door then Craig pressed a button opening the air-lock then lead them in._

_"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIG!"_

_Penny was now a old woman that she had been before she closed her eyes desperately trying to gather the attention of the passengers. She took in full of their uniforms that were silver and red just like the ones that the family had marched to the Jupiter 2 in in a group formation. She watched as the door to the Jupiter 2 automatically opened then the two passengers were the first to enter the ship and Link was the third member to enter.  
_

_"Please, please, please, please, please---Craig! Don't go! Craig!"_

_Craig vanished into the Jupiter 2, the door closing behind him, and the machine with the elevator rolled back. She attempted to tug back the gate with all her strength. However, the gate refused to open just budging slightly with her struggle against the metal material. She fell back landing to the grass staring up toward the ship then watched the atomic engines activate, the smoke erupted from beneath, and the ship flew into the clear blue sky._

Penny awoke with a wail, lunging forward from the bed, her head dropping into her hands and Mark rubbed her back as she sobbed.

* * *

Link changes into his flight uniform after he has the last shower before he left the planet. He has breakfast, Penny packs him dinner and lunch for the long flight just in case something went wrong went wrong with the flight. Penny set up a appointment at the nearest cat therapy clinic for those with trauma. Penny knows she needs this with her son going aboard the name sake of the Jupiter 2. _Dearly_. She set the food into the second pocket within the luggage.

She pats on it after zipping up the pocket. It has everything that he needs and could need, something that she did in the middle of the night, just to ease the feelings of the nightmare that lingered on. She packed in a excess of diamonds that her parents had given her, her thoughts are eased of the worst possibly happen and being unable to find enough of the space currency to pay for the supplies that are weeks away instead of waiting to get them. The luggage is beside the door waiting for Mark and Link.

"Are you coming, mom?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"The last time I attended a launch with a robot pilot, it didn't end well."

"So if you don't attend, it will end otherwise?"

"That is what I believe." Penny said.

"You're going to be feeling so silly when I get back." Link said as he laughed.

Mark waited in a air car that was hovering two feet above the pavement.

"I look forward to feeling like I am the silliest woman on Earth." Penny replied then winked back at the boy. "Feeling silly is the best thing in the world, Link."

"I will miss you, mom." Link hugged Penny.

"I will miss you, too." Penny returned the hug.

They stood that way for a few long minutes then broke apart.

"See you in a week." Link said as he squeezed Penny's hands.

Penny withdrew her right hand out of Link's hand then flicked Link's nose with a smile.

"Make sure to bring back a souvenir from Saturn." Penny said.

"I will." Link said. "Good-bye, mom. I love you."

"I love you, too." Penny said.

Link picked up the luggage by the handle then dragged it to the air car.

"Hmppph, seesh, this is heavy!" Link exclaimed.

Penny laughed watching Mark help Link lift it into front trunk of the car, closed it, then leaped into the electric vehicle. Penny watched the car doors close then the air car flew into the air and made way for the space shuttle port. Penny waved the vehicle off until she couldn't do it any further. She walked toward the land based electric vehicle that waited for her with a door open full of people.

She climbed in, sat down into the chair, then watched as the door closed as she were wrecked by the feeling that something was going to go wrong. That everything was going to go wrong today on a day that wasn't historic. She closed her eyes shaking off the feeling with little result as the electric vehicle drove on. Penny was comforted by one fact alone in the artificial intelligence operated electric car, she was going to spend the next few hours surrounded by pets and be safely assured by the end of the day her son was fast asleep waiting to meet his destination.

Link didn't arrive the following morning to Saturn. 

Link didn't arrive to Saturn the day after that or the day after that or the day after that.

Star Command officially ruled the flight of the Jupiter 2 with information gleaned from lunar space station as being lost in space.

In fact, that would be the last she would hear of him until several years had passed and he had finally arrived to Saturn on a long over due flight that was finally seen through.


End file.
